Chapter 20
20
‘Here she comes,’ Karl announced, lifting the train of the glittery gold gown that he had picked out for Deedee, because ‘why not wear it to your own beach party!’ he had said when she told him about the change of venue. Followed by, ‘Life is short and besides… that’s what dry cleaning is for.’
Deedee came out of the beach house and walked barefoot across the deck that had been covered in a soft, woven garden rug, to join everyone gathered on the sand. Not a balloon arch in sight, she was delighted about that, but there was a macaron tree assembled on a grassy area by the path and so she plucked a pistachio one free and popped it into her mouth. Mmm-mm, delicious, she thought, savouring the sweetness as she made her way over to Anthony who was waiting for her. She had just popped inside the beach house to get changed and to find the letter from Joe to read at midnight.
‘You look sensational…’ Anthony said, handing her a copper tumbler full with a fruity cocktail that Cleo had created and whimsically called Deedee’s Delight. He leaned in close and after kissing her on each cheek he whispered in her ear, ‘…for a grandmother! ’
Laughing, she gave him a playful punch on the arm before hugging him right back and whispering, ‘And you look sensational for… a gigolo circa 1976, on the floor at Studio 54.’ And she winked at him as she ran a finger over the big collar of the open-neck orange and brown swirly patterned shirt he was wearing with bum-hugging flared jeans.
‘OK, I’m going to do you a favour and let you have that one because it is your BIG birthday party,’ he emphasised on purpose and blew her a kiss. ‘But I’m not forgetting, and I will have you know that I wore this outfit in your honour, because you picked it out for me! Hmmm, at least fifty years ago, and guess what…?’ He did a full circle twirl on the sand with a look of delight plastered all over his face, ‘…it still fits!’ He gave her an up-and-down look as if questioning whether she could say the same about fitting into the slinky minidresses she used to wear back in those days when they went clubbing.
‘Hmmm… and so does this!’ Deedee couldn’t help herself as she popped a leg forward and smoothed her hand down over the side of the gold dress in one of her old modelling poses and blew him a kiss right back. Because she didn’t care, not really. Tonight was about celebration, good health and longevity, being grateful to still be alive to enjoy the precious gifts that Joe had given her. She had invited Lara and Nate to join the party here at his beach house and could see them now mingling with the crowd. She waved, her heart swelling at the prospect of getting to know them and sharing Joe with them. It felt like such a privilege to have the opportunity to do that. Maybe seventy wasn’t so bad after all. It could be the start of a brand-new chapter full of possibility. Although she had felt foolish and ashamed for doubting Joe’s fidelity and had told him so in a lovely long chat, out loud, up on the rooftop this morning. She had apologised and thanked him for the beach house that had brought Lara and Nate into her life. And somehow in the course of the conversation, she had found a new pathway to walk through her grief, one of peace and acceptance and a renewed appreciation of the wonderful times that she and Joe had shared together in New York, instead of dwelling on him not being here and seeing only sadness. Because he was here in spirit, she could feel him everywhere, especially on the beach in Haven Harbor, and so this is where her focus needed to be from now on. Feeling happy and optimistic.
Smiling, she gathered up the front of her dress in her free hand and walked over to see Gina who looked stunning in the red trouser suit from Karl’s studio and Rosie too, in the frothy floor-length tulle skirt with a strappy top because although it was night-time with a breezy beach air fluttering all around them, there was an enormous firepit sunken into the centre of a table set up on the sand. A multitude of flickering storm lanterns lighting up the perimeter all around the house brought warmth to the party too.
‘I still can’t believe it,’ Rosie said, clasping Deedee’s hand. ‘It’s such a wonderful surprise. A daughter and a grandson!’
Yesterday, after Deedee had gone back inside the restaurant and introduced Lara and Nate to her stunned trio of friends, and Bobby had agreed that under the circumstances, Lara could finish early for the day, they had all got in the limousine and gone to a lounge bar to talk some more. It turns out that Nate was studying film production at NYU, so he was especially intrigued to hear about Joe’s career as a movie casting director and love of old Hollywood movies. And Deedee already had it in mind now to introduce Nate to some of Joe’s old contacts in the industry. But knew too that she needed to not get carried away and take it one step at a time to build the relationship, and also knew that she would do everything she could to love and support Joe’s daughter and grandson in a way that he had never had the chance to. Although she had politely declined when Nate had turned to her last night and asked, ‘Does this mean I can call you Grandma?’ with the same playful smile that Joe used to wear when teasing her. Because Deedee may have come to terms with being seventy today but that didn’t mean she was going all in on growing old gracefully, so ‘Grandma’ was going to need some getting used to.
Moving on from Gina, who was now chatting and laughing about something with Lara, and Rosie, who was singing ‘Please Please Please’ and dancing on the sand to the Sabrina Carpenter song with Nate, Anthony, Karl and a wide range of people that Deedee had known over the years, Deedee wandered over to Cleo. She was busy overseeing the beautifully curated tablescape, just as Deedee had wished for. The long table, mounted on a small wooden platform that had expertly been built into the sand to stop it from sinking, looked wonderful covered in a stylish Greek blue-and-white floral cloth with crisp linen napkins and vases flowing with more delicate blue forget-me-not flowers to match the ones around the deck’s balustrade. All of Deedee’s favourite foods from the Athena tavern were here. Mezze boards piled with cold meats, stuffed vine leaves, warm pitta, houmous, olives, slices of spanakopita filo spinach and cheese pie. Platters of seafood with giant shrimp and oysters packed in crushed ice with chunks of fresh lemons. Silver serving trays on hotplates set up on a side table for people to help themselves to skewers of cubed spiced lamb, chicken, chorizo, peppers, onions and mushrooms. There was stifado and moussaka and kleftiko giving the salty sea breeze a tantalising tang of fresh herbs and garlic too. Greek salad with crumbly feta cheese of course, but the jewel in the feast was an enormous triple-tiered honey and pistachio baklava birthday cake. So big, there was enough space for seventy candles to line the perimeter of each tier. And Deedee smiled, surprising herself on feeling OK with that. It was certainly a turnaround from the start of the week when she had balked at the birthday balloons and the placard her well-meaning friends, Gina and Rosie, had held up for the whole airport to see how old she was. And what a week it had been! Her life had literally transformed from one of feeling lonely and old to one of feeling happy and excited for the next stage of her life with Lara and Nate in it. Although she felt guilty about not having given her friends the holiday she had planned, so was thinking about treating them to a return trip to stay in the beach house as soon as it was fully renovated. And she needed to fix things with Yiannis. Since arriving for the party, they had been keeping their distance from each other apart from one cordial conversation when he had asked if she was OK and she had told him she was, thank you, all the while wishing her face wasn’t flaming from the shame she was still feeling from having abandoned him in Central Park. But with a big crowd around, it wasn’t the right time to try to repair the damage she had caused.
‘Oh, Cleo, you’ve made this evening so incredible, everyone is saying how delicious the food is, thank you,’ she said, placing the copper tumbler down on the corner of the table to give her a hug. ‘And my new signature cocktail tastes divine. But I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had.’ She laughed.
‘Ah, it’s my pleasure… and I did have a very generous budget to work with, thanks to Joe.’
‘He always was very generous,’ Deedee said, remembering the many charity donations in his will. ‘And full of surprises too, it seems. I can’t believe he planned all this,’ she added, gesturing to the gorgeous scene set up on the beach before her. True to her word, and keen not to let Yiannis down further by revealing that he’d let the secret slip, she had presented the perfect shocked, surprise party face on arriving at Athena when Elena had revealed the real location of the party. Everyone had then piled into a coach – Joe had apparently arranged this too – for the trip to the Hamptons, where the party planner and Cleo had set everything up.
‘He sure was. And I was chatting to Lara earlier… She’s so like Joe it’s uncanny, her son too. How do you feel about that?’ Cleo asked kindly.
‘Well, it was a shock at first, but now I’m over the moon,’ she laughed, catching Elena coming towards her from the corner of her eye.
‘Deedee, darling… you are so beautiful on your birthday.’ Elena pulled Deedee in for one of her bosom-crushing hugs before pushing her away to arm’s length and shaking her head. ‘I tell Yiannis off for upsetting you, again. I know these things; I can see with my eyes that there is tension between you two. You do not want to talk to him at all this evening. And I had such high hopes for him, and he never learns, he?—’
‘Elena,’ Deedee tried to get a word in edgeways, but Elena was on a roll.
‘No, no, no, you must not try to defend him… You are an angel for putting up with his foolishness for all these years. He does not want to tell me anything about the date. Only silence.’ She batted a hand in the air. ‘And I ask him at least ten times but no, nothing. So I know he has messed it all up again. Why else would he be quiet and not talk to you tonight? And on your birthday!’ Tutting loudly, she shook her head again and rolled her eyes.
‘Because it was me who messed up!’ Deedee said, swiftly seizing her chance to explain, knowing she couldn’t let Yiannis take the blame. Elena opened her mouth to protest but then closed it again as Deedee’s words registered.
Elena stared. Cleo came closer.
‘Noooo! Darling, why do you say this?’ Elena recovered, but before she could say any more Cleo tactfully took her mother’s elbow and after steering her away, she looked over her shoulder at Deedee and mouthed, ‘Sorry’.
Deedee went back to her friends intending to find Yiannis in the crowd, knowing she had to talk to him before it was too late. She couldn’t make the same mistake as she had on the date by not properly talking to him. She needed to find out how he really felt and be honest about her own feelings too, but she couldn’t see him anywhere.
‘Darling, there you are.’ Karl came over to her. ‘Come and dance with us.’
‘Have you seen Yiannis?’ she asked as Karl took her hand and started twirling her on the sand. Soon everyone was gathered around her dancing to Kylie before the music changed to Stevie Wonder singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and two waiters she recognised from Athena came towards her carrying an enormous tray with the baklava cake on, its candles ablaze.
‘Happy birthday, Deedee,’ they all sang.
‘Remember to make a wish!’ Rosie told Deedee when the song finished, giving her hand a squeeze.
‘And hurry up, it’s like a furnace with THAT many candles,’ Anthony said in typical teasing fashion before wrapping an arm around Deedee in an enormous hug. ‘Seriously though sweetheart, you are a treasure, and we all love you so very much,’ he added, kissing her face.
‘Thank you darling. And I’m going to need some help to blow out the candles,’ Deedee laughed, turning to her friend, ‘and you are perfect for the job seeing as you are an expert in huffing and puffing!’ She smirked at Anthony before scanning the crowd again for Yiannis, but still no joy. And for a horrible hot second, she wondered if he had left the party. Given up on her and walked away. But she couldn’t think about it now, she needed to blow out the candles and share the joy with her wonderful friends, and family too now.
‘Well, if you insist,’ Anthony quipped and then taking her hand in his, they both leaned a little closer and after a count of three they blew all the candles out together. Deedee closed her eyes and made her wish, which of course included fixing her friendship with Yiannis. And then as everyone helped themselves to pieces of sticky baklava, she glanced at her watch to see that the evening had flown by, and it was almost midnight.
Lifting one of the storm lanterns from the sand, Deedee turned to Rosie. ‘I’ll be back soon… I’m going to read the letter from Joe.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Rosie said, wiping her fingers on a napkin.
‘No, thank you… I’d like to do this on my own. Please will you let the others know if they ask where I’ve gone?’
‘Of course, if you’re sure?’ Rosie squeezed her hand, as Deedee nodded.
Scooping her gown up, Deedee wandered along the lantern-lit path to where the party planner had thoughtfully set up clusters of giant floor cushions and blankets on the sand in a semicircle around another firepit. The tide had gone out, so the sound of the waves gave a comforting shushing sound as they swayed back and forth gently over the sand. Deedee set her lantern down and hitched the dress up around her thighs, so that she could sit on a cushion. She pulled a blanket over her shoulders. After slipping the carefully folded envelope from where she had stowed it inside her bra, Deedee opened it and smoothed out the letter. And by the light of the flames from the crackling firepit she started reading.
My darling Deedee,
Happy birthday, my love!
I hope you are enjoying the party. I hope too that you have forgiven me for not bringing you with me to my lawyer’s office to make the movie and to see the beach house. I had this idea to give you a happy surprise while I still could. I hope you can understand.
Darling, you are an incredible woman, and I hope too that – if you haven’t found new love already – that you have thought a bit about what I said in the recording. Yes, you know your own mind and I wouldn’t dream of telling you what to do, but you are stubborn and steadfastly loyal too, sometimes to your own detriment.
I also want you to know that Yiannis came with me to the beach house and while there we talked, and I asked him to take care of you after I had gone. To always be there for you. I am sure he has been doing so. Another thing, and I hope it’s OK, but I also made it clear to him that if any romance ever developed between you then he had my blessing. I wouldn’t want you to lose out on the chance of love again and Yiannis is a good guy, one of the best friends I’ve ever had. He has always loved you, my darling, enough to let you go all those years ago when he could have pursued you after he messed up, and so if you haven’t found romance with each other yet, or found love with someone new by now, then maybe it is time to consider him once more? As I said in the recording, I want you to be happy. So please, just promise not to close yourself off from the chance of another love, out of some sense of loyalty to me. Life is too short for that. So move forward, my darling, with my love, now, always and forever.
Joe xxx
Deedee pulled the blanket in closer around her shoulders and after kissing the tip of her index finger she pressed it gently onto the page that Joe had held before carefully folding it back up and slipping it inside her bra. Sitting with her thoughts, she let the sound of the waves soothe her as she became aware of feeling lighter, something lifting from her. She inhaled hard through her nose and let out a long calming breath from her mouth, over and over, her shoulders lowering and her body relaxing, expanding like a chrysalis unfurling into a butterfly. The flame of the lantern seemed brighter, the sand, waves, everything had come sharper into focus. It was as if a fog had lifted. Joe’s last letter a gift, giving her grace to feel free to move forward at last. She would always wish he was here but had finally found a place to be content without him here.
Deedee became conscious of someone moving close to her now. Footsteps in the sand. A familiar spicy scent swirling in the air.
‘You dropped this.’ Yiannis crouched down and handed her the beautiful pink corsage that she had left in Central Park.
‘You kept it!’ Deedee murmured, touching one of the delicate petals. ‘I don’t deserve this,’ she sighed, shaking her head. ‘Yiannis, I’m so sorry…’
‘What for?’
‘For running away, for ruining our friendship, for?—’
‘Shuuush.’ He sat down beside her, and they stared for a while as the waves swayed over the sand, as if taking everything that went wrong with their romance all those years ago away and bringing it back afresh and new for a second chance.
‘Why didn’t you tell me about Joe’s blessing?’ Deedee eventually broke the silence.
‘Because it wasn’t my place to,’ Yiannis said. ‘You are your own woman, in charge of your own feelings and emotions. But you’re also stubborn and loyal and steadfast…’ He paused, echoing Joe’s words. ‘And so I needed to know if you wanted me – us – on your own terms and not just because Joe had given his blessing.’
Deedee took a moment to digest what he was saying before asking, ‘Is it true? That you never stopped loving me?’ keeping her gaze fixed on the flames dancing in the firepit.
‘Dee, I’ve always loved you. I just wanted the best for you, and Joe was the best. Far better than I ever was.’
‘So, what’s changed then? Not that I’m saying I’m giving you another go, you understand…’
‘Of course, goes without saying.’ Yiannis shrugged, turning his body towards her. Deedee shifted too to look at him, seeing the corners of his mouth move into a smile as he raised one eyebrow. ‘I’ve had a lot of time to grow up. To know what I really want, and to accept the mistakes I made in the past. To adore you and treat you properly if it’s what you want too. Joe set a very high bar.’
‘He did… and he also told me there are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.’ Deedee turned her head and tilted her face to Yiannis’s, moving her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Maybe there was space in her heart for a new, different kind of love after all…